Michael was a larger-than-life personality, a one-of-a kind soul, teacher, mentor, brother, and friend, who impacted every person he met. He was witty, intelligent, charismatic, kind, gentle, patient, strong, confident, and handsome. He was graceful, flexible, stunningly fast, ferociously skilled and spontaneous in martial arts combat. Above all, he was a teacher, a gifted writer and mesmerizing story-teller, whose life was an interesting and compelling story itself.

Michael was born February 12, 1951 in Biloxi, Mississippi to Samuel Albert Abedin and Joan Scott Audrain. Michael’s father was a decorated Air Force pilot who served in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. As a result, Michael moved around in his childhood, including living in Puerto Rico, growing up in Abilene, Texas. His career goal was attending the Air Force Academy. However, when his father advised him to avoid the Vietnam War, he instead moved to Austin after high school.

He was the coolest, most genuinely interesting guy you’d ever meet. He was a “Cowboy Bootist,” as he called himself, with a vast, eclectic vintage collection. He fancied himself a “Style Icon,” with nearly every article of his clothing discovered on the racks at Goodwill. He loved Dallas Cowboys football, a good IPA beer, and living life at his own pace, in his own creative way. He often said, “I have no obligation to Keep Austin Weird. I am one of the ones who made it that way,” and, he had the stories to prove it.

Most of us thought he was ten-feet tall and bulletproof, an immortal that would out-live us all. He took care of himself, having a generally healthy diet including daily vitamins and supplements, and a daily discipline of martial arts, yoga, meditation, and Reiki. As Michael’s body got sicker and weaker with cancer since February, losing 45 pounds and becoming unable to eat, he felt betrayed by the body he had taken such careful care of his whole life. He endured medical testing and procedures all summer followed by being in the hospital for 2 months, but did not get a diagnosis of Stage 4 colorectal cancer until 4 ½ weeks before he passed. The hospital’s only offering was palliative chemo, which Michael declined. The hospital would not allow any alternative therapies, as they were not “hospital approved.” Michael wanted to get out of the hospital to try all of the alternative cancer therapies he had learned about and written about in the magazine over the years. Unfortunately, he was not released from the hospital until 5 days before he passed on October 13, 2019. By then, it was tragically too late for the alternative therapies that could have helped, although he still tried them over those 5 days.

He is survived by his siblings Patric Abedin, Haven Abedin (Wes), Samantha “Sammie” Abedin (Chris), Karen Fetter (Scott), his nephew Cooper Abedin, his nieces Lily Abedin and Natalie Fetter, his girlfriend and soulmate, Karen Hayden, and her children Kira and Evan, his Austin All Natural magazine and Kenpo Karate families, and many dear friends in the holistic and metaphysical community.